Online Casinos Directory

Las Vegas has long been a gambling hub of the world, in particular in the US. The location has been a draw for decades. In the 40s it became the center of excitement for stars from the Rat Pack and various high-rollers. It was known for its luxury and decadence to the tourists and locals. Casinos began building premiere locations for not only gambling, but also for retail outlets, corporate centers, entertainment and resorts. Over the years the city has built itself up to be an expert deliverer of various hobbies and that means that everyone can find something fun to do in Las Vegas. In a lot of ways the city has developed into a full-service area with things to do for all ages. Retirees to families with 2-year olds can find activities that will well serve them all. Although it may seem like a tall order to serve that big a demographic, it isn’t an exaggeration of specialty.

The US Travel Industry Association did a recent study to see how many people have been to Las Vegas and it was a startling percentage of US residents. In fact, over 37% of residents of the states have ventured to Las Vegas to enjoy all it has to offer. The average stay in the city was four days, or a long weekend. Studies also showed that the long weekend was enough to enjoy more than their share of casino and nightlife along with daytime spas and shopping. Most people see Las Vegas as a vacation, but not an exotic one that takes weeks to visit. It has an accessibility to it that draws in millions each year.

Right now Las Vegas is suffering due to the recent recession of 2008 and 2009 years. Many people in the city are still without jobs and having difficult times managing their bills and mortgages. It is estimated that about sixty percent of residents are having some type of mortgage trouble, whether that is in official foreclosure or defaulting on mortgage loans. It may take some time for Las Vegas to recover, but the city still has a lot to offer. In fact, there is even more now that the recession is over and investors are once again starting to put money into development.

The thing with gambling is that it is quickly overtaking the markets of almost every country. Every country realizes how much money it is passing up without the legalization and regulation of gambling. Even the US knows– with the introduction of the UIGEA, the country hampered gamblers from wagering online in the country. That caused people who wanted to gamble to move to offshore gambling companies and it channeled billions of dollars out of the country. The US suffered after the recession and now it is rethinking the move to let millions of dollars go. Now legislators throughout the country want to change laws to regulate and legalize online gambling. Other coutnries are following suit and playing with the rules– all wanting to bring in millions of dollars to their own sturggling economies. One country that is looking to gambling now is Bulgaria.

Gambling in Bulgaria remained underground until the 1990’s when the Bulgarian government recognized the need for legal gambling facilities for it’s citizens. The government enacted laws that liberalized the gambling industry so that citizens could legally gamble in land casinos. In 2008, Bulgaria decided to legalize online gambling and start collecting some of the taxes on gambling that were leaving the country to offshore operators. They currently tax online gambling operators at a flat tax rate of 10%. Unfortunately, this is a very high rate of tax compared to some offshore gaming jurisdictions that collect less than 1.5% in gambling-related taxes. With such a high government tax, the online gambling operators are still able to generate huge profits due to the surge of Bulgarians and foreigners that visit their online casinos. The Bulgarian government believes that they can bring in more people to their online casinos, and they’ve recently developed a plan to treat online gambling as virtual tourism. They plan on launching a marketing campaign to bring in tourists to their online casinos from Turkey and other neighboring countries that have outlawed all forms of gambling. Using online gambling as part of their tourism campaign is a sure-fire way to draw attention to Bulgaria and what it has to offer to foreigners. One of the great things about the internet is that it is bringing a world market to the business of online gambling. Only time will tell what happens, but gambling is sure to be a part of the mix.